Tag Archive for: Sin

Prodigal’s Sin

/0 Comments/in ,
Armodoxy for Today: Prodigal Son
Every Sunday during the Lenten Season has a unique name. Today is known as the Sunday of the Prodigal Son. Accordingly, the lesson of the day comes from the Gospel of St. Luke, Chapter 15, where Jesus teaches using a parable, commonly known as the story of the Prodigal Son.
Perhaps if nothing else reached us from the time of Jesus except for this one parable, it would be enough to explain our relationship with God. It is a story of reconciliation, and expresses the unconditional love that God has for us and therefore, requires of us.
The story of the Prodigal Son unfolds like this: A man has two sons. The younger son asks for and receives his inheritance. He takes his share of his father’s estate and squanders it on reckless living. While he has funds, he is popular with many friends. But when his money ran out, so did his friends. No money, no parties, no extravagant lifestyle, no friends, he goes out to look for work. But it is of no use. He can’t make enough to survive.
One night, when he is really down, he sees some pigs feeding and he actually considers eating the pigs’ food because he is so hungry. It is at that point that he comes to his senses. He remembers his father’s home and remembers that that his father’s servants live better than he. That night, he makes a decision to go back home –to his father – to beg for forgiveness. He even strategizes that he will ask to be taken-in as one of his father’s servants.  
Now, while the son is returning home his father sees him on this road. His father comes running toward him, grabs him, hugs him and kisses him. He doesn’t even give his son a chance to talk nor to explain his deeds while away from home. The father then orders his servants to come around and bring him the best clothes and put the ring of authority on his hand. Then he orders a celebration! The fatted calf is slaughtered for this party.
The story of the Prodigal Son doesn’t end here. Remember he had an older brother. Now this older brother was working in the field and heard the sound of merriment and dancing. He didn’t understand and protested to his father. He said, “Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!” He just could not understand the unfairness of life. He (the older brother) had done everything right and the younger brother had wasted his inheritance. “Where is the justice?” he demanded. Why is the bad guy getting rewarded while the good guy continues to labor and struggle?
The father, with compassion and understanding, explains to the older brother, “You are always with me, and everything I have is yours.  But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.”
This is the story of the Prodigal Son. Read it in Luke 15. We will look at the many dimensions of the story in the next few days. Today, I leave you with homework: What was the sin of the Prodigal son? That he lived with prostitutes? That he was consumed by materialism? Think of it and we’ll continue tomorrow.
I leave you with this prayer by St. Nersess Shnorhali, Heavenly Father, true God, who sent Your beloved Son to seek the wandering sheep. I have sinned against heaven and before you. Receive me like Prodigal Son and clothe me with the garment of innocence, of which I was deprived by with sin. Have mercy upon your creatures and upon me a great sinner. Amen (3/24)

Seven Humans to One Divine

/0 Comments/in ,

Armodoxy for Today: Seven humans to One Divine

This week, in examining the concept of Expulsion, we found that what separates us from God is our sin. Like the curtain that is draped across the Holy Altar in our Armenian churches, which prevents us from witnessing the celebration of the Holy and epic Divine Liturgy, our sin prevents us from witnessing the grandeur and glory of God in the fullest.

We learned that sin means missing the mark of perfection and in that sense, we are all sinful because we are imperfect. Jesus makes sure that we understand that perfection as a goal, means going beyond the human expectations. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus contrasts the human with the Divine, saying “You have heard…” for instance “do not murder” “But I tell you…” anger / hatred toward another is the same as murder. Or having lustful thoughts about another’s wife is committing adultery. And the higher standard of loving your enemies and praying for those who persecute you. (Matthew 5)

Herein, we begin to understand why the Church singled out seven expressions as the “deadly sins.” Namely, pride, envy, gluttony, lust, covetousness, anger and laziness. These are the feelings, the expressions, that prevent us from attaining perfection. They are expressions that are under our own control. These are the human expressions that must be managed and overcome in aiming for the Divine.

We pray from the nineth hour of St. Nersess Shnorhali’s “I confess with Faith,”  All provident Lord, place Your holy fear as a guard before my eyes so they may not look lustfully; before my ears so that they may not delight in hearing evil words; before my mouth so that it may not speak any falsehoods; before my heart so that it may not think evil; before my hands so that they may not do injustice; before my feet, that they may not walk in the paths of injustice; but so direct them, that they may always be according to all Your commandments. Have mercy upon Your Creatures and upon me, a great sinner. Amen.

Welcome to Sin during Lent

/0 Comments/in ,

Armodoxy for Today: Welcome to Sin

One of the most misunderstood concepts or themes in Christianity is sin. Our understanding, or misunderstanding, of sin stems from models that have been set up for us and have conditioned us since childhood. We associate sin with the bad or evil in our life because evil is punished, or at the very least, it produces unfavorable consequences. Even more, in religion, particularly in the traditional Judeo-Christian system of thought, the punishment for evil is augmented by concepts of condemnation and damnation. These models creep into our adult life and skew our perception of life. They distort our view of what life is what life can be.

The truth is, all our actions – not just evil, but everything we do – has consequences.  Actions are made up of emotional thoughts and they are acted out by physical means. Newton’s laws of motion tell us that to every action there is an opposite and equal reaction. This applies to the physical world as well as the spiritual world.

So let’s begin by saying that all evil is sin, but not all sin is evil.

Sin means missing the mark. Imagine a large target and in this target is the center circle. That large black circle is called the bullseye. Now imagine a bow and arrow in your hands. You pull back on the bow and let the arrow go. The arrow travels through space, through time and eventually it hits its destination. You have aimed for the bullseye, you have aimed for perfection, but somehow it didn’t make it. You missed the mark. You may hit quite a ways off of the mark, you might have hit close by. In fact, you may have not hit the target at all! No matter what the case –close or far from the bullseye – you missed the mark! You sinned. Close or far from the targeted area, it’s a sin. Sin is sin. You aimed for perfection but came short of it. You missed the mark.

Each of us strives for perfection. We all want to hit that mark, we want the best for ourselves, for our families, for our children; but we journey through space and time, much like the arrow and are influenced by many factors including the wind, freak occurrences, lack of focus or unnoticed obstacles, and we do not hit the mark.

As we conclude our second week of Lent, understanding sin in these terms helps us in our journey, especially as we meet the characters of the next few weeks, namely the Prodigal Son, the Dishonest Steward and the Unrighteous Judge.

Your act of charity today is to forgive those who have created a hierarchy of sin. Forgive yourself. Fast today, from judging others.

Let us pray, Father in Heaven, who makes your sun shine on the good and the bad, on the just and the unjust, let the rays of the sun touch and burn away the judgement that runs through me, to understand myself as a sinner too. Help me through this Lenten journey. Amen.

 

Eclipsing God during Lent

/0 Comments/in ,

Armodoxy for Today: Unexpectedly Eclipsing God

Astronomical events have caught my attention since early childhood, especially the kind that you can see from the comfort of your home. So, I stayed up and with that childhood wonder watched in awe as the Moon slipped out of the Sun’s light into the Earth’s shadow and then slipped back out. I don’t know what is more amazing to me, the fact that these huge astronomical bodies dance with grace in the sky, or the fact that their motion is so delicately aligned with the universal laws of motion that this event was predicted to the minute several hundreds of years ago.

This week, we have been inspired by the Gospel passage which was read on Expulsion Sunday. In it, Jesus says, “If you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother and then come and offer your gift.” (Matthew 5)

Did you catch the eclipse? Jesus, in these words, is saying there is something more important than God! God is eclipsed by our need to reconcile with one another. You’ve gone to church to worship God, to offer your sacrifice to God, but there is something more important, being reconciled with your brother. He says, drop your offering at the church – turn away from God – until you first reconcile with your brother. To be at peace and in harmony with one another eclipses any pious gesture of worship or adoration of God.

The Christian message is about people. It’s about harmony and that peaceful existence comes about when we become part of the solution. It’s not about looking up to heaven but reaching out to one another here on Earth. If there is going to be harmony in our lives, if there is going to be peace in this world, it’s not because I am offering a prayer upwards, rather it is because I am offering a prayer sideways. I am reaching out to my brothers and my sisters as a vehicle of love. True peace, true harmony, true existence is about us loving with one another.

This comes to us today as a reminder that our Lenten journey is about using these 40 days to make the 325 days that follow it – that is life – more meaningful and in harmony with others.

Practice charity today by providing a light to someone who is bitter with life. Push them out of the shadow and into the light. Fast today from superficial piety and understand that Christianity is about peace on Earth through the goodwill among people.

Let us pray the prayer of St. Nersess Shnorhali (23), “All merciful Lord, have mercy upon all your faithful, on those who are mine and those who are strangers to me, on those whom I know and those whom I do not know, on the living and on the dead, and forgive all my enemies, and those who hate me, the trespasses that they have committed against me, turn them from the malice which they bear towards me, that they may be worthy of Your mercy. Amen.”

Expulsion Excerpts

/0 Comments/in ,

Armodoxy For today, expulsion Sunday

This Sunday of Lent is called expulsion Sunday. When looking at the Gospel passage prescribed to us by the Church Fathers, we understand that we are being called to a more mature understanding of our faith and our responsibility as children of that faith.

Expulsion refers to humanity’s exile from Paradise, as told in the book of Genesis. Interestingly enough, the Scriptural passages for the day from both Romans 9 and 10 and Matthew chapter five, all point to our practicing the Gospel of Love as presented to us by Jesus Christ as I read the Gospel passage, listen carefully to what Christ is asking of us. The entire passage is from Matthew chapter five, verses 17 through 48 I will read an excerpt.

Jesus says, You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, you shall not murder, and whoever murders shall be liable to judgment. But I say to you that if you are angry with your brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment.

So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift before the altar and go, First be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift.

You have heard that it was said you shall not commit adultery, but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

You have heard that it was said from ancient times, you shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord. But I say to you, do not swear at all.

You have heard that it was said An eye for an eye and a tooth for tooth. But I say to you, do not resist an evildoer.

You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy, but I say to you, love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven, for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.

As I mentioned earlier, this is merely an excerpt from the entire Gospel passage, and I hope you will take some time to read the entire passage here, you understand that there is a law, but Jesus’s message is higher than that law. It is the fulfillment of that law. In other words, you know the law, but there is a higher standard, one that Jesus gives to us, one which he summarizes at the end of the passage by saying, “Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

So we are responsible for how our lives are lived. You see in the book of Genesis, in the story of the expulsion, the blame game was played, first by the woman, then by the man, then by the tempter. The woman made me do. It says the man to God who questions man’s disobedience, the serpent made me do. It says the woman, what Jesus tells us is, you me, we are all guilty of doing it. This week, we’ll take a closer look at that sin, what it means to us during the Lenten journey, how we deal with it, and what it means in our lives as Christians,

Protect from Temptation -9of10

/0 Comments/in , , , ,

Armodoxy for Today: 10x One Minutes on the Lord’s Prayer, Part 9 – Protect us from Temptation

“And lead us not into temptation” is a bit misleading, when we recite it at the end of the Lord’s Prayer. It lends to the belief that somehow, we are on the puppet strings of the Grand Puppeteer, and we are begging that he does not steer us in toward temptation.

The true request here is, may God protect us from temptation. When we see, hear, or think tempting thoughts, may God give us the wisdom, the clarity of vision and the openness of mind to stay away from those things that draw us to sin.

Temptation is all around us. God doesn’t take us there. Rather, He gives us the tools with which we can overcome temptation.  When Jesus offers us the Lord’s prayer, it is in the context of the Sermon on the Mount, where he is challenging us all to find purity of mind as we live our lives. God gives us the strength and will to not be led toward it.

Today’s one minute on the Lord’s Prayer, for Summertime.

Forgive our Debts -7of10

/0 Comments/in , , , ,

Armodoxy for Today: 10x One Minutes on the Lord’s Prayer, Part 7- Forgive us our debts

Trespasses, debts, we’ve heard both these words used in the English translation of the Lord’s Prayer. Whether it is something you owe, such as a debt, or something you’ve violated, we ask to be forgiven of our debts and our trespasses. It is the one statement in the prayer that is conditional. We ask God to forgive us our sin by the weight and measure by which we forgive others. “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” If I forgive my debtor only half of his or her debt, I can be assured to be forgiven half of my debt. Understood this way, we come to understand that our forgiveness, our being cleaned of debt, is completely in our hands. Very clearly, Jesus is guaranteeing us a clean slate, complete and total forgiveness of sin, to the point that you do not have to second guess it. Whatever is hanging around your neck is released, provided, you release the debt of those who owe you.

Like all of Christianity, we are called to responsibility through our actions.

Today’s one minute on the Lord’s Prayer, for Summertime.

Young Sin – Day 15 of 40

/0 Comments/in ,

Armodoxy for Today: Young Sin – Day 15 of Lent

The parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15) is what we are examining this week and we begin with the younger brother, the one identified as the “prodigal son.”

According to the parable, Jesus says the younger brother desired a different life than the one he was living. Entertaining thoughts of different or better life is fairly common. When desire motivates us,  we ask why shouldn’t I have the better things in life? In this boy’s case, he had the means, his father had the resources, so why not take advantage of the situation and go for it all? What then is the “sin” of the younger son? He is driven by his passions and the energy that comes with youth, and perhaps a little bit of impatience. He seizes the opportunity and takes what he can! Where’s the sin?

Taking what is given to you is not a sin. That is your gift. It belongs to you. The sin is squandering the gift! The sin is taking your gift and abusing it.

God has given each of us talents. He has given us life itself. Indeed the breath we breathe is a gift, as is the smile on our face, our ability to hug and our passion to reach out. Much like the Prodigal Son, we squander what is given us in a reckless and sometimes abusive manner. We consume our lives with the minutia and we therefore abandon quality. God has given us a smile that would light up a room and we cover it up, we are ashamed to show our goodness. He has given us the ability to talk and instead we keep our mouths closed, or if we do open it we fill it with idle conversation and gossip. He has given us hand to hold, lift up and to help others instead we tie our hands down and refuse to help those in need. He has given us feet to walk in the paths of righteousness and instead we take our bodies to dismal hangouts.

The act of charity for today is inventory the gifts that have been given to you. Make a list of those talents and put a check mark on the talents you use and a zero (0) on those you do not and an ‘x’ on those you abuse. Look at your list: are you respecting that gift or are you squandering it? Fast today from making a quick decision, instead contemplate the your interaction with your talents. Then treat yourself to a Suonomo cucumber salad from the recipe below.

We pray from St. Gregory of Narek (27) I have sinned against the talents of your incomprehensible gifts, incessantly have I sinned… But if you, Lord Jesus, reach out to me in loving-kindness as I suffocate with sighs of pain, then, as the Scriptures promised, “Your cure will cleanse away the greatest sins.” And through your boundless kindness I will be joined to you, with your image of light re-imprinted upon my soul. Atoned and re-established in your salvation, I will reach the immortal life of the virtuous and give glory forever to you with the Father and Holy Spirit. Amen. (Translated by Thomas J. Samuelian)

Lenten Recipes by Deacon Varoujan: Recipe 15: Suonomo (Cucumber Salad)

Welcome to Sin – Day 13 of 40

/0 Comments/in ,

Armodoxy for Today: Welcome to Sin – Day 13 of Lent

One of the most misunderstood concepts or themes in Christianity is sin. Our understanding, or misunderstanding, of sin stems from models that have been set up for us and have conditioned us since childhood. We associate sin with the bad or evil in our life because evil is punished, or at the very least, it produces unfavorable consequences. Even more, in religion, particularly in the traditional Judeo-Christian system of thought, the punishment for evil is augmented by concepts of condemnation and damnation. These models creep into our adult life and skew our perception of life. They distort our view of what life is what life can be.

The truth is, all our actions – not just evil, but everything we do – has consequences.  Actions are made up of emotional thoughts and they are acted out by physical means. Newton’s laws of motion tell us that to every action there is an opposite and equal reaction. This applies to the physical world as well as the spiritual world.

So let’s begin by saying that all evil is sin, but not all sin is evil.

Sin means missing the mark. Imagine a large target and in this target is the center circle. That large black circle is called the bullseye. Now imagine a bow and arrow in your hands. You pull back on the bow and let the arrow go. The arrow travels through space, through time and eventually it hits its destination. You have aimed for the bullseye, you have aimed for perfection, but somehow it didn’t make it. You missed the mark. You may hit quite a ways off of the mark, you might have hit close by. In fact, you may have not hit the target at all! No matter what the case –close or far from the bullseye – you missed the mark! You sinned. Close or far from the targeted area, it’s a sin. Sin is sin. You aimed for perfection but came short of it. You missed the mark.

Each of us strives for perfection. We all want to hit that mark, we want the best for ourselves, for our families, for our children; but we journey through space and time, much like the arrow and are influenced by many factors including the wind, freak occurrences, lack of focus or unnoticed obstacles, and we do not hit the mark.

As we conclude our second week of Lent, understanding sin in these terms helps us in our journey, especially as we meet the characters of the next few weeks, namely the Prodigal Son (tomorrow), the Dishonest Steward and the Unrighteous Judge.

Your act of charity today is to forgive those who have created a hierarchy of sin. Forgive yourself. Fast today, from judging others. Try a Saturday special with stir-fried asparagus, recipe found below.

Let us pray, Father in Heaven, who makes your sun shine on the good and the bad, on the just and the unjust, let the rays of the sun touch and burn away the judgement that runs through me, to understand myself as a sinner too. Help me through this Lenten journey. Amen.

Lenten Recipes by Deacon Varoujan: Recipe 13: Stir -Fried Asparagus

Expelled Again – Day 7 of 40

/0 Comments/in ,

Armodoxy for Today: Expelled Again – Day 7 of 40

This first Sunday of Lent is called “Expulsion Sunday” as it recalls God expelling humankind from Paradise as presented in the Book of Genesis. While it’s tempting to discuss the dynamics between God, Adam, Eve and the Serpent, it also defeats the purpose of Lent. That is, since it is not to be taken literally, the details of the story are not as important as the message it conveys. The essence of the story is that humanity walks away from the rules of God. By looking at the message of the story we put ourselves into the equation and understand ourselves to be the ones who break the rules.

God says love one another, we say, not everyone. God says care for one another, we say, only to those that give us something in return. God says love your neighbor as yourself,  we say, we’ll build bombs and ensure that our weapons are big enough to fend them off. God says, value the family and value life, and we say, the dollar can buy us more. God says, enjoy the life I have given you, we say, I will with drugs, alcohol and wastefulness. God say, take care of the world I gave you, we say, who cares, pollution and dwindling resources are problems for the next generations to worry about it. God says, worship Me, and we say, I’ve got better things to do. God says, know Me, and we ask, where’s the profit?  

You see, the story of Expulsion, or that of Adam and Eve, is about humanity going against the natural flow of life that is created by God. We ourselves, with our actions are the reason for our expulsion from Paradise.

May today’s charity begin at home: Listen to the words of God and do them. Fast from desires that move you away from God.

Now treat yourself to today’s meal, Mushroom Ragu, the recipe is in the show notes.

We pray from St. Gregory of Narek, (24) What am I worthy to ask of you in prayer? May I pray for paradise, from which I have strayed? your magnificent glory, which I am denied? your everlasting life, from which I was rejected? … O living Word, so that reconciled through you the Holy Spirit might return to me. Through you and the will of the almighty Holy Spirit,
may I be cleansed and presented to your Father, so that I may, with him and by your grace,
through the breath of salutation, be inseparably united with you. Amen. (Translated by Thomas J. Samuelian)

Lenten Recipes by Deacon Varoujan: Recipe 7: Mushroom Ragu